TSM11121 Business Skills for Tourism, Hospitality and Event Management

Assessment Information

Assessment A: Individual Report

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Case Study 1

Temporary Staff at the Edinburgh International Book Festival

Each year the Edinburgh International Book Festival (EIBF) takes over Charlotte Square Gardens in the heart of Edinburgh to welcome around 260,000 visitors to one of the world’s biggest and best-respected book festivals. The programme includes over 900 events, most of which are based across 7 main venues within Book Festival Village at Charlotte Square Gardens and in George Street. The event’s main purpose is to provide a platform for writers and authors from all over the world to present their work and to engage their audiences in debates and discussion series. The EIBF is well known for its pioneering work to ensure environmental sustainability, as well as inclusivity and accessibility for everyone. In 2016, 2017 and 2018 the EIBF won the prestigious Euan’s Guide Award for Spirit of Inclusion and for the Most Accessible Pop-Up Festival Venue,

Aside from a permanent year-round core of approx. 30 staff, the EIBF employs over 200 temporary staff each year, including short term staff during August and longer-term temporary staff from April/May to September. Temporary positions are all paid (there are no volunteer places) and cover the following areas: Booksales (e.g. Assistant Buyer, Bookseller, Cashier, Logistics Assistants), Box Office (Box Office Assistants, Schools Booking Coordinator, Access Officer); Front of House staff; Programming staff (Author Hospitality Assistants, Programme Logistics Assistants, Author AV Assistants); Site and Technical staff (Site and Venue Managers, Technical Assistants. Production Assistants); and other staff categories (Press and Media Officers and Assistants, Marketing, Festival Administrative Support). All roles are advertised primarily on the EIBF webpage and on the Creative Scotland website.

Applicants for entry-level Front of House, Booksales and Box Office roles tend to be students; professionals, such as production, photography, press and technical staff who work a variety of temporary and freelance contracts year-round, fill other roles. Applicants are asked to submit their CV and a covering letter, in addition to completing an online application form. They are then assessed against the criteria specified in the job description, shortlisted, and invited to an interview. Once recruited, all temporary August staff then attend an all-staff training day, which covers essential event information and ends with a social event where new staff can get to know each other. Some of the roles involve additional department- or service-specific training (e.g. Disability Equality Training). All temporary staff are also provided with a comprehensive Temporary Staff Handbook, which us updated year after year and covers most relevant information about the festival and conditions of employment.

Many staff tend to return year after year and there is a good rate of internal promotion and recruitment, with many supervisory roles filled by retuning assistants and sometimes temporary staff go on to permanent year-round roles with the EIBF.

Webpage: https://www.edbookfest.co.uk/

Annual review reports: https://www.edbookfest.co.uk/about-us/annual-reviews

Current vacancies: https://www.edbookfest.co.uk/about-us/jobs

Case Study 2

Visitor Experience and Hospitality Staff at the Royal Yacht Britannia

The Royal Yacht Britannia was launched in 1953 as Her Majesty The Queen’s Royal residence. Having been decommissioned in 1997, it came to Edinburgh’s port of Leith to become a five-star visitor attraction that welcomes over 380,000 visitors a year who explore the ship using an award-winning audio-guided tours system. Britannia also serves as an exclusive evening events venue, catering for 30 – 200 guests for dining experiences and up to 450 guests for drinks receptions. Events on board include private celebrations, product launches, meetings, incentives and other types of corporate events, with guests having the use of the whole Yacht for an evening.

More than permanent 200 staff are employed at the visitor attraction, including a Visitor Experience/ Visitor Guides team and an in-house Hospitality and Events team. The 10-strong Visitor guides team typically delivers individualised tours for day groups, but they are also on hand for visitors during self-guided tours and enhance the evening event experience through personalised tours. New Guides are required to complete rigorous training that involves a period of shadowing more experienced Guides and learning a lot of facts about the Yacht’s history. The Guides pride themselves on being able to answer any question and spend a lot of their own time researching their specialist areas.

The events team aim to replicate the same high standards as when Britannia was in Royal service. Excellence, luxury and meticulous attention to detail permeate each aspect of Britannia’s events from the initial enquiry to post-event communication. The Hospitality and Events team includes three full-time Event Managers, a core Galley team of approx. 25 Chefs and Kitchen Porters who look after Britannia’s day- and night-time catering, and a team of 15-20 full-time and 20-30 part-time Waiters/Butlers with various shift patterns who work at the Royal Deck Tea Room during the day and attend to events guests at night.

In addition to advertising any vacancies on their website, the organisation uses dedicated industry portals to advertise for positions (Caterer.com, the Association of Scottish Visitor Attractions website). Many of the Waiter positions are filled by students and so available positions are also advertised through university careers services. All front- and back of house staff are paid the living wage (currently £9 plus tips for waiting staff) and full-time employees are offered benefits such as a pension scheme and life assurance, long-service holiday entitlement and exclusive discounts in Britannia’s Shop.

New permanent staff are required to complete Britannia’s Induction, which involves attendance at a monthly Company Awareness Day with presentations from all Heads of Department, a compulsory ‘Exceeding Visitor Expectations’ training event and any specialist training required. New staff then typically start by working in a specific department on day-time operations, before moving on to evening events. All staff are required to attend regular team meetings and updates and further training is offered, including refresher courses and speciality courses such as sommelier training. While turn-around among hospitality staff is relatively high, Britannia offers promotion opportunities to existing staff, for example a Full Time Waitress was recently promoted to Senior Tea Room Supervisor.

Britannia Corporate Events website: https://www.royalyachtbritannia.co.uk/exclusive-use/

Events press pack: https://www.royalyachtbritannia.co.uk/media/4006/2019-events-press-info-inc-fingal.pdf

Britannia Vacancies: https://www.royalyachtbritannia.co.uk/vacancies/

Case Study 3

Blue Crew Volunteers at Scottish Rugby, Murrayfield 

Since 1994 BT Murrayfield Stadium has been the no.1 venue for Scottish rugby, with a number of events that include international fixtures (Summer Tests, Rugby World Cup, Guinness Six Nations), regular tournaments and special events (European Challenge Cup, Guinness Pro14) taking place at the venue each year. Events at Murrayfield attract in excess of 67,000 spectators and so an efficient crew of staff and volunteers is a must. Scottish Rugby, the organisation behind the events and the governing body for Scottish rugby union aim to inspire and grow the game through their values of respect, leadership, achievement, engagement and enjoyment. These values are part of the organisational culture and communicated throughout the organisation, with all permanent and temporary staff and volunteers expected to adhere to them.

Scottish Rugby works with a pool of approx. 350 ‘Blue Crew’ Volunteers, who are periodically recruited via social media (FB and Twitter) based on their interests and previous volunteering experience. The profile is mainly late 30s to early 50s, with some students, retirees, and generally people with a love of sporting events. Benefits emphasised include complimentary tickets and meal vouchers, but also interaction with the fans and the teams, the ability to be part of the experience, skills and practical experience development, and improved confidence.

Blue Crew volunteers are invited to sign up using a Google form, indicating their availability and specific events they want to be involved in. All new volunteers are asked to sign the Volunteer Agreement, which describes the arrangement between Scottish Rugby and the volunteer and highlights the organisations’ commitment to make the volunteer experience a positive and rewarding one. Volunteers are then issued the ‘Blue Crew Handbook’ and asked to attend a training event, during which they are shown around the stadium, talked through the key features of the role and are introduced to existing volunteers and the supervisors. There are further briefings before each event, where Event Briefing documents along with any specific info about the event are shared.

Approx. 100 volunteers are called on to assist with specific events, working in teams of 6-12 in areas including: periphery stewarding; helping with directions; crowd animation; activation in family areas; mascots; assistance with directions along the Murrayfield Mile (route from Haymarket to the stadium); hospitality assistants (directing people to specific seating areas); info-booths assistance; and, accessible parking welcome. Each team is managed by at least one supervisor who is responsible for a specific area. In terms of retention, Scottish Rugby have been very successful in retaining some of their volunteers since the start of the programme some 8-10 years ago, although a large proportion of the volunteers only offer their services for 1 – 2 events per year and then move on.

Website: https://www.scottishrugby.org/

Annual Reports: https://www.scottishrugby.org/about/annual-reports

FB: https://www.facebook.com/scottishrugby

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Scotlandteam

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/scotlandteam/

Extension Requests and Fit-to-Sit Regulations

You are given details of all your assessments at the beginning of the module. Time management and prioritisation are important skills that you are expected to develop at university. Therefore, begin preparation for your assessments early and do not leave them all until the final week. However, I understand that sometimes exceptional circumstances can affect your ability to submit on time. Short extensions of up to a maximum of 10 working days may be granted, and these should be asked for as far in advance as possible i.e. as soon as you realise that the assessment deadline will not be met. It is extremely unlikely that you will be given an extension if you ask for one after the assessment deadline, except under very exceptional circumstances.

Extension requests need to be completed and sent to the Module Leader using the RE1 form that can be downloaded from the FitToSit page on myNapier:  https://my.napier.ac.uk/Student- Administration/Extenuating%20Circumstances/Pages/Extenuating-Circumstances.aspx

Requests for longer extensions will need to be agreed by the Extenuating Circumstances Board; please take note of the ‘Fit to Sit’ regulations available on the above link. Please keep the module leader informed if you intend to request longer extensions through mitigating circumstances.

Reassessment information

If you fail one of both assessments (one of both assessment marks of falling below F1) you will have one attempt to pass the Reassessment, which will require you to re-do the original assessments. Further details will be provided in due course. In most cases the maximum mark for failed-reassessed work will be P1, unless you make a successful Extenuating Circumstances claim.

Important note on plagiarism

Plagiarism can be described as the dishonest use of someone else’s words, thoughts or ideas without acknowledgement. Plagiarism is viewed very seriously by Napier University and students can face disciplinary action in the event of established or suspected plagiarism. Edinburgh Napier University has a Guide on Plagiarism and you should ensure that you refer to this Guide for further information on this important issue (see http://www2.napier.ac.uk/ed/plagiarism/).